Doctorossi

Just wait 'til The Wizard of Oz is re-branded as part of WB's new "Emerald" line.

Or will it be the "Ruby" line? Oh, no! Too many options!

Kal-El

Eh, not so much when you think about it. Sapphire is a precious gemstone with a BLUe color. :-)

AmityBoatTours

Definately will be getting Forrest Gump and Braveheart, Day 1.
Its funny i was just watching Forest Gump this morning on HBO HD

kefrank

I wonder how much of the current Blu-ray demographic actually knows that.

jiggyblau

As much as I think it's okay to complain about $40 list prices, I think it's way better than those Warner flagship titles that list for $85. I'll be in for at least Gladiator and Gump, but I do have all three on DVD already.

mzupeman2

The words 'hell' and 'yes' come to mind. Seriously. Braveheart and Gladiator, two of my fav films on the same day. Wicked.

bunkaroo

I don't like price increases, but if I had to pick three catalog titles from Paramount worth $40 SRP, all of these would undoubtedly be candidates. Can't wait.

emachine12

So we are okay with Critieron titles being $40 SRP regardless of release but worked up when Paramount decides to give their Best Picture winners the best BDs for the same price?

I mean it could be worse, at least $40 is the ceiling for Paramount. If this were Warner, we'd get Ultimate Collector's Editions at $80. Or if this were Disney, we'd see them at $40 with no new bonus features. Actually, I take that back since Disney now charges a premium to catalogs when new special features are added. So we'd see these at $45 retail.

depooter

Diamond, Platinum, Sapphire.....jeez...they are running out of precious gems...

Gizmo

Criterion puts a ton of effort into every single one of their Blu-rays that the big studios would never, never touch. A comparison between Criterion and Paramount is not possible.

Now, Disney on the other hand...

emachine12

A ton of effort?

A ton of effort? Criterion?

I beg to differ. While its true that they have been doing a great job with the audio and video, they do no more effort than Fox or Disney in producing Blu-ray Discs.

Paramount has put a lot more effort into these two releases then Criterion would do. You have a four interactive features on Braveheart and a newly enhanced trivia track & documentary for Gladiator.

In fact, David Prior confirmed that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was already fnished for Paramount prior to Criterion stepping in to add it to their collection. The only thing Criterion "changed" was DTS-HD MA audio versus Dolby TrueHD.

Compare that to Chungking Express which does have good 1080p video and DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround sound. Extras wise, nothing new was created for Blu-ray Disc. All extras and the liner notes were from the DVD release.

The Last Emperor is even missing the extended television version found on the DVD release plus the liner notes have been truncated on the BD to just include a film critic essay.

The Man Who Fell to Earth is missing the novel from the DVD release.

I understand the price justification for Critieron on DVD but for Blu-ray Disc, it seems odd.

Drexl

I'm beginning to think that the studios are shifting gears with this format. I think the original intention was that this would completely replace DVD. Now, they might be giving up on the idea of BD as a mainstream product, and are positioning it as a niche format.

InstantKarma

I never seen Braveheart so is it good? I might pick it up as a blind buy, I seen Gladitor, I enjoyed it so I will pick that one up and as for Forrest Gump, that movie was so boring, I fell asleep so I am not picking it up

Sessa17

Probably will get Gladiator, not a big fan of Braveheart, & Forrest Gump.....well....some here may know my feelings on that one.

tonymontana313

Well said. I'm also down in picking up the first trilogy of the Sapphire line.

IamLegend

Will definitely get all three but not at the out of gate prices.....I dont have a problem with the higher msrp if it gets studios to make better product and release some of the top tier titles. It all is great compared to what laser disc prices were.

davidh777

In for Maximus and Wallace

fumanstan

I always thought Gladiator looked pretty good on DVD. I'll wait for the inevitable comparison shots, but chances are I'll grab Gladiator.

I like Forrest Gump, but I own the DVD and I don't think i've ever watched it.

mike45

I'm in for Gladiator and Braveheart. But I'll pass on Forrest Gump.

They should do a BD update for Rob Roy. Which I think is the better Scottish film.

MBoyd

They are all ok films, I have just seen them more than enough times that I don't feel the need to watch them on blu anytime soon.

DeanoBKN

I'm down for Gladiator and Forrest Gump, but bullshit on those MSRP.

poddie

Uhhh... I think it's a reference to Blu-ray. Sapphires are commonly blue. Make sense now? Geez... people are so quick to jump on the smallest things. I like the new name, and it's nice to have a way for their better, more feature-rich releases to stand out.

I am incredibly excited for these. I was expecting a much more bare bones release of Gladiator, but it looks like they are going all-out to give us everything from the previous two sets that they can cram in there.

I don't mind paying a small amount extra for a release that is complete, compared to most of the movie only sets that will cause me to upgrade later (King Kong, LOTR, Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down, etc, etc, etc).

PopcornTreeCt

A $39.99 DVD is okay but not a $39.99 Blu-ray? I think it's funny that Amazon charges less money for a Blu-ray Criterion than the same movie on DVD. That and every studio charges $39.99 for Blu-rays so Criterion doesn't look so special anymore.

I'm in for Gladiator. I'll happily spend $25+ on a "catalog" title like Gladiator versus the new crap, "new releases" that come out every week.

argh923

um...they JUST announced this wave...pretty sure that means they haven't announced the next wave yet.

So tired of random speculation being passed around as fact around here.. Seems especially rampant in the HD forum.

LickTheABCs

I'm pretty sure Gizmo is "in the know"..